Political Ideas Second Exam                          Due date:  Wednesday, November 28. 

 

Answer three of the following questions.  Answer at least one question from Part One and one from Part Two.  Answer each question with an essay approximately 1 1/2 to 2 pages long (typed, double-spaced).  Try to express your ideas in your own words, using only brief quotations from the readings, if any.  When you do quote or paraphrase the ideas of other authors, give them credit and indicate where you found the idea. (A page reference in parentheses is sufficient for this purpose -- for example: [Heywood, p.56]; formal footnotes are not necessary.)

 

Part One

 

  1. Explain and critically discuss the following claim (made by Marx and Engels, discussed by Lenin):  Since the function of the state is to enforce the rule of one class over the others, and thus to make it possible for that class to exploit the others, a classless society would not need any government, and the state would "wither away".

 

  1. In the Communist Manifesto Marx and Engels wrote, "The executive of the modern State is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie."  Less dramatically, many on the left have argued that, in a capitalist society, government cannot be genuinely democratic because capitalists (or ‘the rich) will inevitably have disproportionate political power.  What reasons can be given to support this claim?  To what extent do you think the claim is true?  What might be done to make a capitalist society more democratic?

 

  1. What do you think of the idea (an idea found in anarchism, in the 'Green' movement, and in some forms of socialism and some forms of feminism) that we ought to be trying to create a society in which, to the greatest extent possible, no one has power over anyone else because everyone has equal power, a society in which there is no domination, no hierarchy, no coercive authority?  Is this possible? (If so, how?  If not, why not?) Is it a good idea?

 

  1. What do you take to be the central principles or ideals of socialism?  What, if anything, do you find attractive in the ideals of socialism?  What problems do you see in the idea of socialism?  How might people who are committed to the ideals of socialism try to overcome these problems?  Do you think such efforts could succeed?

 

 

Part Two

 

  1. In many parts of the world 'Western' political ideals are being rejected in favor of one sort fundamentalism or another.  Islamic fundamentalists reject liberalism in favor of Islamic law and traditional Islamic political ideas.  In the U.S. some parts of the so-called 'Christian right' favor a restoration of the idea that the U.S. is "a Christian country" and a rejection of the liberal ideal of the separation of church and state.  In part these movements are based on the belief that social order can only be sound and lasting if it is based on a common core of religious values.  What do you think of these movements?  (Explain.)

 

  1. Some people think that the most important contribution of feminism to political thinking has been the idea that "the personal is political", that is, that many aspects of life that were previously thought to be private or personal or, anyway, not part of politics, do have a political dimension.  What are some examples that would illustrate this idea?  What do you think of this idea?  What consequences does it have for politics?

 

7.       Explain and critically discuss the following claim:  a society constructed according to the principles suggested by women's experiences would be very different in its values and in its institutions from any of the male-dominated societies with which we are familiar.  Different how?  Why?  Do you agree?

 

8.       The 'Green' movement rejects both capitalism and socialism on the grounds that they are equally committed to 'unsustainable' policies of industrialism, consumerism and the pursuit of economic growth.  Explain and critically evaluate the Green's call for a reorientation of our society and politics towards 'sustainability'.  Does this shift really require a new political orientation?  Or can environmental concerns be adequately addressed by one or more of the ideologies that already exist (liberalism, conservatism or socialism, for example)?  (See Heywood, pp.283-289 for background.)